Alimon C.H vs Secretary, Local Self Government Department

Sathish Ninan, J

The petitioner has approached this Court aggrieved by the failure on the part of the third respondent Registrar of Births and Deaths to accept and consider the petitioner's application for correction of date of birth of the petitioner's wife-Shameena Rahim and also seeking incorporation of her name in the birth certificate.

The law regarding registration of births and deaths are the Registration of Births and Deaths Act, 1969 and the Kerala Registration of Births and Deaths Rules, 1999. Section 14 of the Act read with Rule 10 deals with registration of the name of the child. Section 15 of the Act read with Rule 11 deals with correction of entries in the register of birth and deaths. As per circular dated 24.03.1997 issued by the Chief Registrar of Births and Deaths, any correction sought for after five years can be made only with the permission of the Chief Registrar. That in terms of the above provisions, the authorities have ample power to order correction of mistaken entries in the registers, provided the authorities are convinced/satisfied of the errors that has occurred in the register, has been held by this Court in Chalakkudy Municipality and Another v. Malavika and Another [2009 (4) KLT 714 (DB)], Thomas Jacob v. Registrar of Births and Deaths [2011 (3) KLT 461] and Abdul Rahiman v. Registrar of Births and Deaths [2016 (4) KLJ 60].

Now coming to the facts of this case, the petitioner is the husband of Shameena Rahim. Their marriage was solemnized on 24.01.2016 as is evidenced by Ext.P1 Marriage Certificate issued by the Municipality. The petitioner's wife-Shameena Rahim is now in Malta in relation to her studies-undergraduate certificate in Nursing studies at Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology. To complete the registration process of her course, birth certificate is necessary. Accordingly Ext.P8 application was submitted before the third respondent through her mother. On the application Ext.P9 birth certificate dated 01.07.2021 was issued. In the birth certificate, the name of the child is shown as, 'not registered' and the date of birth was shown as 15.06.1989. The correct date of birth of Shameena Rahim is 15.06.1988. All the other particulars including the name of the parents are correctly stated. The petitioner asserts that the date of birth of his wife is 15.06.1988 but has been erroneously shown in the birth certificate (Ext.P9) as 15.06.1989. The petitioner relies on the following documents to substantiate that the year mentioned in Ext.P9 birth certificate as 1989 instead 1988 is erroneous:

(a) Marriage Certificate showing date of birth as 15.06.1988

(b) Aadhar Card showing year of birth shown as 1988

(c) Voters identity card showing date of birth as 15.06.1988

(d) Secondary School Leaving Certificate showing date of birth as 15.06.1988

(e) Passport showing date of birth as 15.06.1988

(f) Offer letter issued from the Malta College of Arts, Science and Technology showing date of birth as 15.06.1988.

As held by this Court, the Registrar is to consider the application and if satisfied that there is a genuine mistake/error that has crept in the register of births he can order correction. The request having been made beyond five years, corrections could be done only with the permission of the Chief Registrar. Be that as it may, it is for the authorities to consider the application in accordance with law and pass appropriate orders. Since Shameena Rahim-the wife of the petitioner is presently at Malta and her mother is also stated to be not in India now, considering the urgency pointed out namely that the visa has expired on 29-06-2021, the petitioner could be permitted to submit application with conditions imposed.

Accordingly the writ petition is disposed of with the following directions:-

(i) The third respondent shall accept and consider the application, if any, submitted by the petitioner with respect to the corrections as first above mentioned, in the birth register of the petitioner's wife-Shameena Rahim.

(ii) The petitioner shall surrender the original of Ext.P9 birth certificate along with the application.

(iii) The petitioner shall swear to an affidavit before a Notary Public that he has been duly authorised by his wife-Shameena Rahim to file the application, and file the affidavit along with the application.

(iv) In the course of the proceedings, the petitioner shall submit an affidavit sworn to by his wife-Shameena Rahim before a Notary Public or before the Indian Embassy at Malta, swearing to the submission of the application by the petitioner on her behalf.

(v) On fulfilment of the conditions as above, the 3rd respondent shall, on obtaining concurrence from the Chief Registrar pass orders on the application without delay and taking due note of the urgency pointed out by the petitioner.